Valandil's mother Silmariën was the eldest child of Tar-Elendil.[5] However, when it came time for Tar-Elendi to relinquish the Sceptre of Númenor it did not pass on to Silmariën or her sister Isilmë; instead it went to Tar-Elendil's third child Meneldur. The royal law of succession at that time (actually an unquestioned inherited custom) stated that the Sceptre was to be inherited by the Ruler's eldest son. Later, Tar-Meneldur's son Tar-Aldarion altered the law so that the eldest child of the King, whether man or woman, would receive the Sceptre.[1] Had this law existed when Tar-Elendil relinquished the Sceptre, Silmariën would have been the first Ruling Queen and Valandil and his descendants would have been the rulers of Númenor.

Valandil was a close cousin of Aldarion and twice hosted feasts for him in Andúnië, on the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Guild of Venturers and again in midsummer of S.A.870 when the newly wedded Aldarion and Erendis visited.[1]